(CNS): The National Trust of the Cayman Islands has appointed Nadia Hardie as its next Executive Director ahead of the departure of the current director, Christina Pineda, who leaves the NGO at the end of this month. Hardie, who previously worked in marketing in the offshore financial sector and tourism, is taking over the Trust at a time when Cayman’s environment and conservation law are under particular threat. As well as leading the NGO, Hardie will have a seat on the National Conservation Council, the only entity left standing that has some influence over untrammelled development.

Describing it as her dream job, Hardie’s background is likely to be very helpful for fundraising but she joins at a time when the Trust needs to continue its advocacy for protecting the environment. There are many that believe the Trust must take a more vocal position over the coming months as the realities of climate change, green issues and the pressing need to protect what is left of the country’s natural resources come into collision with powerful forces seeking more development and changes to conservation legislation.

Reflecting on her time at the National Trust, Pineda, who has been a powerful advocate for the NGO over the last six years, said she has loved being a part of such a vital organisation and raising its profile.

“I am incredibly pleased that we have found someone with the passion and energy needed to take over the leadership of the Trust and look forward to seeing where Ms Hardie will take the Trust over the next few years,” she added.

Trust Council Chairperson Andrew Gibb said, “We are certain that Ms Hardie, as an experienced professional with a wide range of relevant experience, will bring a fresh perspective to our dedicated and hard-working team and we are very pleased to welcome her.”

While Hardie has spent her more recent career in marketing roles with offshore firms such as Mourant and Deloitte, she has also worked in tourism management and served as a board director of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association for many years. She also has experience working with government ministries and departments.

“I feel very fortunate to have been selected for what is essentially my dream job after many years in the corporate world,” said Hardie. “Having grown up in these islands, I look forward to giving back and making a real impact in my new role. I will do my best to build upon the magnificent work that the Trust has been doing for the past 30 years.”

Comments (38)

Out of a combination of scientific curiosity and philanthropy, our household made an *.xls spreadsheet of ALL of the Cayman Islands public charities and systematically gave each a token $100 that year (not including other special events and fundraisers). We were curious to see which of those groups would bother to remember the donation, and/or add us to their donor, or event fundraiser, and campaign lists. We were disappointed to discover it was surprisingly few, and not the ones you’d expect. Many are run like private social/business clubs for their preferred donor groups. The lesson for those in the Cayman Islands non-profit sector is: keep track of ALL of your donor audience through some kind of CRM, regardless of who they are, and their backgrounds. It shows you’re on the ball. Thank them if you and they want such recognition, but definitely bother to remember their names and contact details for the following year if you want to boost recurring revenue. Good luck to Nadia Hardie.

Does this mean you are giving for the recognition, or giving out of a desire to share your good fortune by making the world a better place? If your measure of a charity or NGO is if they write thank you notes I think you might have lost the plot.

Wow. Many of us grew up being taught when someone gave us a gift, monetary or otherwise, it was customary to send a polite note thanking the person for the gift. If the gift was monetary, we were taught to mention what the money we were given was used towards.

This not vanity. Please. This is gratitude. This is, at the very minimum, a thankful acknowledgement that I know you spent your hard earned money on something thoughtful or helpful to me and I thank you for it, and it has not gone unnoticed.

Anything less is nothing short of coming across entitled.

Clearly, this event left a sour taste in the mouth of the donor. It might even be correct to assume that charity or NGO will not benefit from this donor or their friends in the future.

As to the original poster here leaving their name, forget it. The charity had their chance. I would postulate that the charity did not fall down but rather spent its time sitting back and counting their cash and going to lunch on this donors money.

Let me be the voice of reason…..the person is saying that normally person that goes in this post not about the post. The fact this is her dream job she will be “attentive” not to say anyone else was not. SO CONTINUED SUCCESS NOT GOING BACKWARDS. You are all looking for something that just isn’t there but that’s my take on it

The National Trust is non existent in Cayman! I continuously see the environment being ripped apart and buildings which should be protected as heritage buildings being torn down. Heavy equipment on Beaches where turtles nest being reconfigured. Where is the National Trust?

The National Trust is not the Dept of Environment or the National Conservation council. The Trust only has the power given to it by its law which means that it can only protect properties they own, they arent the environmental police. Get familiar man! How about joining in and helping instead of complaining

You confuse the Unity gov’t preference for loosely accounted big-ticket infrastructure over-bids, developer-chaired Environmental Boards, and muzzled DoE objections, with the mission of this non-profit organization. They are different matters. Implementation of the Standards in Public Life Law (2014) continues to be deliberately deferred to accommodate the conflicts you mention. I might add, without a peep of objection from the electorate (the people that hold the real power over changing the status quo).

Who is the National Trust really? The chairperson is South African, what does he do, never heard of this person before. Where are the people of the islands represented? Ezzard what are your thoughts on the succession planning here….

The Chairperson hails from South Africa and has Caymanian Status. Why is it that almost every issue in our islands has to be infected with this bigotry of who is and who isn’t Caymanian? If we look back far enough we are all immigrants.

Not sure where exactly her relevant experience lies?? It should be very interesting indeed what she does in her role moving forward…. All I have seen is that CITA works for itself, and only the interests of the club elite, and champions destruction of the environment for their own gain.

We’re talking about the National Trust… where does CITA come into this? CITA cannot work for itself as it’s a non-profit and is not an entity by itself but a representation of its members. For instance, CITA came out and announced that the majority of their membership did not want a port. That definitely was not working for the interest of the “club elite” you speak of. How is that championing destruction?? CITA is sensible though and knows that government has the final say and you either learn to work with them or have no say at all at the table. But some people just don’t like facts and prefer negative gossip.

Her “relevant experience” has listed her work as a Board Director at CITA. Read the article!!! I would rather hear of her direct experience with the National Trust i.e. Volunteer work, maybe her direct stance on the the port or land the government is selling. Merely saying, who is she, what does she stand for? Her qualifications do not seem to justify her new position.

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